So you want to improve your personal growth goals?
Set your mind to it and achieve it! What will you achieve with the right set of tools, strategies, and tactics?
I’ve been on this journey explicitly for several years now and I’m constantly looking for ways to grow and evolve as a person.
Whether you call it personal growth goals, career or life goals, or some other variation of the phrase here are a few steps to help you reach your goal.
Define what you mean by “Personal Growth”
“Personal growth” is a broad term that encompasses many things. It can mean learning new skills, developing new habits and improving your relationships. The first step to achieving your own personal growth goals is to understand what you mean by “personal growth.” Personal growth means different things to different people, so it’s important to set some parameters for yourself.
Defining what you mean by “personal growth goals” will help you decide on the right steps to take in order to achieve your goals.
Personal growth goals are the best way to ensure that you are always moving forward in life. The secret to success is to set goals that can be achieved and then reach them.
First, identify your values. Why do you want to grow? What do you value? What are the most important things in life? Once you’ve identified these values, then ask yourself how those values impact your behavior or actions. For example, if one of your values is honesty but you’re always lying about something or someone then maybe it’s time for some self-reflection or improvement!
What do you want to achieve? This may seem obvious, but it’s important to really think about why you’re doing this. Do you want more friends? More confidence? To feel more fulfilled at work? Or maybe all of those things combined?
Why do you want this? What’s driving it for you? Is it something that’s been on your mind for a long time, or something that came up recently? How does achieving this goal fit into the bigger picture of your life?
How will achieving this goal change your life? Once you know what you want and why, try to envision how achieving your goal will change things for the better. For example, will making new friends give me more fun opportunities outside of work? Will being more confident at work help me advance faster with my career goals?
Identify the steps that are necessary to reach those goals
In order to reach your goals, you need to have a plan of action that will help you achieve what you want. This plan of action should include the following:
Identify the steps that are necessary to reach those goals.
Break down each step into smaller tasks or sub-goals that can be achieved within a certain time frame. This way, your goal will be more manageable and less intimidating.
Set deadlines for each task or sub-goal so that you know when something needs to get done by in order to keep moving forward on your plan of action.
Use the SMARTER goal-setting model to create your personal growth goals
If you’re trying to reach a goal of any kind including personal growth goals, you’ll want to make sure it’s a good one. That means it should be Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, Time-bound (SMART), and then be able to Evaluate and Reward/Revise (ER).
The SMARTER goal-setting model is a great tool to help you create effective goals. It stands for:
Specific – Be clear and focused on the outcome of your goal.
Measurable – Have a way to track success.
Attainable – Make sure it’s something that can be achieved within a reasonable time frame.
Relevant – Make sure it aligns with your values and interests.
Time-bound – Set a deadline for when you want to achieve your goal.
Evaluate – Choose how you will know if you met your goal.
Reward/revise – What will you get at the end or how will you change it?
Review your progress and make adjustments as needed
Review and adjust as needed: Review what has worked so far and make adjustments as needed based on new information or feedback from others who support this goal with you (such as friends or family).
If you’re feeling frustrated or discouraged, it’s important to recognize that these feelings are normal. You can’t expect to reach your goal overnight — or in a week or month. Change takes time!
You may need to make adjustments along the way, such as changing your plan if something doesn’t work out well or finding new ways to reach your goal if your old ones aren’t working. Don’t be afraid to experiment and revise your plan as needed!
The best way to grow is to intentionally make changes in your life
Setting personal growth goals is one of the most direct and effective ways to help you reach your potential. They provide direction for your future and motivation for your present and give you a way to measure your progress. There is no one-size-fits-all template for accomplishing a goal, but it’s reasonable to assume that almost anything will be difficult at first. This difficulty is what helps push you to improve; what helps make you genuinely grow as a person.
Hopefully, I’ve given you three simple steps to get you started on one of your first personal growth goals. If you’re already in the practice of setting goals, you may want to try some new techniques. And if a lack of confidence has made it harder for you to achieve your goals over the past year, then I hope that this list of techniques will help remind you how important your goals are.